Last week the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s program consisted entirely of Mahler’s “Symphony No. 6” (1906), a monumental work that literally ends with three massive hammer hits, which, for Mahler, were meant to represent three blows of fate. For newcomers to classical music, no, a hammer is not normally an instrument, but in Mahler’s world of course it is. And we’re not talking about a tiny hammer that might hit a chime. We’re talking about a hammer that could break a door down crashing into a wooden block the size of a table. And whoever said classical music was boring?!?!
It is a shame that Mahler’s name is not widely known outside of the classical community in the way that Mozart’s, Beethoven’s or Debussy’s is. His music still consistently sells out concert halls, as was the case with the BSO’s rendition of “Symphony No. 6,” and continues to emotionally affect people in a way unmatched by any other composer except maybe Richard Wagner.
Mahler’s music constantly straddles between two extremes, that of profound beauty and grotesque anger and tragedy. At any moment one could invade the other. Aggressive march-like anger frequently dies out and gives way to profound beauty, and likewise beauty could at any moment be interrupted by a sudden dramatic explosion. Take the opening of the sixth as an example. An absolutely abominable trumpet line matched by a marching low string passage promises a gargantuan and diabolical symphony to come. But by only the second minute it dies out and gives way to a frivolous and beautiful melody. And this can be found throughout Mahler; his second, third opens in exactly the same way.
Mahler is often remembered for his drippingly dramatic and aggressive full symphonic moments, but he is as effective at catching beauty. It is because his symphonies are constantly in flux that his more dramatic moments are often remembered, as his anger and tragedy always quickly intrudes on the beauty. It is this flux between such emotional extremes with both sides so powerfully represented that results in a Mahler symphony being a truly transformative experience for the listener. To fully go through the tragic, angry, grotesque, aggressive and beautiful world that Mahler creates is simply transformative. In fact, the second symphony, aptly named the “Resurrection Symphony” (1897), has the potential to fundamentally alter the way one views music. It was my early exposure to Mahler’s “Symphony No. 5” (1904) that sent me down the classical music pipeline and resulted in me studying music in college. It is simply impossible to have Mahler not make you feel something.
Mahler can be too much for some. He has one mode and that is dramatic. There is not much frivolous humor or joyous whimsy to be found in Mahler. That being said, a common complaint from people new to classical music is that it is too boring. Mahler does a lot, but the one thing that he does not do is bore. For anyone new to or critical of classical music, please give Mahler a listen first before you label his music as boring.
